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MacGill retirement could see return of England's nemesis

01/06/2008

Australia spinner Stuart MacGill has announced he will retire after the second Test against the West Indies.

The 37-year-old has struggled to find his form since having an operation on his right wrist in December.

The news will spark rumours that Shane Warne could come out of retirement to face England in next year's Ashes series.

MacGill, who played understudy to Warne for most of his career, said he was disappointed with his displays in the Caribbean.

"There is no way I will ever walk onto a cricket field unless I can guarantee that I can dismiss top order batsmen consistently," MacGill said in a statement.

"The prospect of letting myself and the team down is simply not an option. I have worked way too hard for too long to sabotage my achievements by playing Test cricket for the wrong reasons."

Warne, 38, revealed last month he would come out of retirement if Australia continue to struggle to find a spinner.

"If Australia really needed me and there was no one else around, and Ricky thought I could do the job, you would weigh up the options," Warne told the Herald Sun.

"If Stuey MacGill fell over and broke his leg, and there were no other spinners around, and Ricky came out and said, 'Mate, can you please help us out for this one-off tour? We need you', that is something I would weigh up," he said.

"If I wanted to keep playing I don't think there would be an issue with me being the No.1 spinner and performing.

"I would still love to be playing international cricket, and miss it because I devoted 20 years to first-class cricket."